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Description
The RCW41 star-forming region is embedded within the Vela Molecular Ridge, hosting a massive stellar cluster surrounded by a conspicuous HII region. Understanding the role of interstellar magnetic fields and studying the newborn stellar population is crucial to building a consistent picture of the physical processes acting on this kind of environment. We carried out a detailed study of the interstellar polarization toward RCW41 with data from an optical and near-infrared polarimetric survey. Additionally, deep near-infrared images from the 3.5 meter New Technology Telescope were used to study the photometric properties of the embedded young stellar cluster, revealing several YSO candidates. By using a set of pre-main-sequence isochrones, a mean cluster age in the range 2.5-5.0 million years was determined, and evidence of sequential star formation was revealed. An abrupt decrease in R-band polarization degree was noticed toward the central ionized area, probably due to low grain alignment efficiency caused by the turbulent environment and/or the weak intensity of magnetic fields. The distortion of magnetic field lines exhibits dual behavior, with the mean orientation outside the area approximately following the borders of the star-forming region and directed radially toward the cluster inside the ionized area, in agreement with simulations of expanding H II regions. The spectral dependence of polarization allowed a meaningful determination of the total-to-selective extinction ratio by fittings of the Serkowski relation. Furthermore, a large rotation of polarization angle as a function of wavelength was detected toward several embedded stars.
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